As June comes to a close and trade season ramps up, it's time to again check up on the Phillies' top prospects.
Let's start with the player Phillies fans have been talking about most lately:
2B Scott Kingery (AAA)
Kingery made an immediate impact this week after being promoted from Double A Reading to Triple A Lehigh Valley. He had a leadoff single and made two defensive gems in his Triple A debut (even making SportsCenter for his leaping grab behind second) and homered twice in his second game with the IronPigs. In Game 3, he drove in two runs with sacrifice flies.
The pair of home runs Kingery hit Tuesday gave him an even 20 on the season. In 332 plate appearances, he's hit .313/.377/.618 with 20 homers, 18 doubles, five triples, 49 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.
There are legitimate reasons for Kingery's power surge - more muscle, some more loft on his swing - but it's still way too early to tell whether this power will translate to the majors. The thing is, even if it doesn't, Kingery still has a chance to be a very good player.
His best tools are his defense, speed and contact ability. It's why he was a second-round pick and it's why he was projected to hit toward the top of an order someday.
Philadelphia Phillies
Complete coverage of the Fightin' Phils and their MLB rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Dustin Pedroia was the common comparison when Kingery was drafted because they're both short second basemen with skills that play bigger than their frames. Pedroia's 162-game average throughout his 12 seasons in the majors is a .301 batting average, .808 OPS, 15 homers and 15 steals. That kind of line doesn't sound unreasonable for Kingery.
OF Dylan Cozens (AAA)
Since May 1, Cozens has hit .279 with a .929 OPS, 14 homers, 36 RBIs and 56 strikeouts in 53 games.
He's significantly cut down his strikeout rate after whiffing 40 times in 90 plate appearances in April.
He's also been playing a little center field recently with Roman Quinn on the disabled list. That's an example of Cozens' athleticism - he's not some big power hitter with one tool, he can also move and play defense.
I think we'll see Cozens in the majors at some point this season for a few reasons. First, he's already on the 40-man roster. Second, he has a difference-making skill with his ability to hit a ball out of any park. Third, Howie Kendrick probably won't be around after the trade deadline and Daniel Nava might be gone as well.
On the year, Cozens has hit .237/.314/.482 with 18 homers and 51 RBIs. He's struck out 96 times in 311 plate appearances. He still has quite a ways to go against lefties but he's been at least respectable against them this season with six homers and a .457 slugging percentage.
Cozens was one of five IronPigs named Thursday to the International League All-Star team, along with Rhys Hoskins, Tom Eshelman, Jorge Alfaro and reliever Pedro Beato.
OF Nick Williams (AAA)
Six walks in his last five games - what has gotten into Nick Williams?!
Phillies GM Matt Klentak recently said that Williams is shoring up a few final things before making the jump to the majors. Plate selection is unquestionably at the top of the list. Prior to walking six times this week, Williams had just 10 with 82 strikeouts in 72 games.
On the year, Williams has hit .277/.326/.511 with 15 homers and 44 RBIs. If he can replicate those numbers at the big-league level, that's enough to be a productive corner outfielder.
Like Cozens, Williams has taken some steps forward against left-handed pitching. He doesn't start every game against a lefty, but Williams has hit .253 with a .677 OPS off southpaws in 85 plate appearances. Last year, he hit .231 off lefties with a .571 OPS.
Williams could be a candidate to replace Howie Kendrick on the 25-man roster if Kendrick needs to go back on the DL. Phillies fans would certainly feel like it's about time.
SS J.P. Crawford (AAA)
Look, we all know Crawford has a higher ceiling than Freddy Galvis. We all know he has plate selection and can run deep counts without striking out.
But Crawford hasn't done much this season to push himself closer to unseating Galvis as the Phillies' starting shortstop. Crawford is 65 games into his season and still hitting .207 with a .323 on-base percentage and two home runs.
He's been better lately with 17 walks and 14 strikeouts in his last 23 games. Over that span, he's hit .261 with a .377 OBP in 106 plate appearances.
But he's still yet to have a multi-week hot streak.
Phillies fans, by and large, are OK with Galvis but don't love him. I'd be curious if Galvis was perceived the same way had he been a first-round pick himself. But Galvis is a legitimately valuable major-league shortstop. He plays elite, Gold Glove-caliber defense, and over the last 365 days, he's second among all National League shortstops with 13 home runs and 13 stolen bases. Only Addison Russell has more homers and only Trea Turner has more steals.
Galvis still has deficiencies, his main one being that he doesn't walk enough. That just so happens to coincide with Crawford's strength. But lately, Galvis has done everything else better.
Galvis' final arbitration year is 2018 and then he's a free agent. Barring a second-half surge from Crawford, the top prospect might not be the starting shortstop next opening day after all.
We could also see the Phillies shop Galvis this winter. Nothing is off the table. We could see the Phils begin next season with Cesar Hernandez at second base and Galvis at shortstop, or we could see both traded and the Phils open with Kingery and Crawford as their double-play combination.
1B Rhys Hoskins (AAA)
Hoskins, who hit his 18th home run Wednesday night, just keeps humming along. He's hitting .304/.401/.601 with those 18 homers and 62 RBIs through 79 games.
June was his worst month but only because April and May were so impressive. Hoskins is ready for the majors. Not much more to say on that front. On top of the high batting average and consistent power, he's walked 44 times and struck out 47 this season. For an organization that talks so frequently about controlling the strike zone while continuing to start big-leaguers who don't do it, Hoskins has stood out.
Again, it would be of little to no benefit to the Phillies to enter next season with both Hoskins and Joseph in the fold. Sure, you could start Hoskins and bring Joseph off the bench or vice versa, but it would make more sense to trade Joseph for a player at a more important, useful position.
The issue there is that it's always difficult to gauge the trade value of a player who plays only first base. There just aren't a ton of teams clamoring for first-base help that don't have an internal option. One of those teams that could use Joseph is the one the Phillies just faced: the Mariners.
Joseph's game-tying homer in Seattle was his 34th in 625 plate appearances the last two seasons. That's pretty much the equivalent of one full year.
RHP Tom Eshelman (AAA)
Most of us expected the Ken Giles trade to work out more than it has so far for the Phillies. Vince Velasquez has been a volatile starting pitcher and is currently on the shelf, and patience is running thin with the erratic Mark Appel.
But beyond those two headliners of the Phillies' return in the trade with Houston, Eshelman has been on a roll at Triple A.
After going 3-0 with a 3.10 ERA in five starts at Double A, the 23-year-old Eshelman is 6-2 with a 2.15 ERA at Triple A after winning Wednesday. Altogether this season he's struck out 70 and walked 13 in 100 innings.
Control has always been Eshelman's strong suit - he's walked just 46 batters in 231 innings since turning pro. He needs that control because he's not going to blow hitters away with his 88 to 91 mph fastball.
There is a bit of deception to Eshelman's delivery which should help him when he eventually arrives in The Show. He hides the ball well and almost short-arms it out of his hand. That probably adds a tick or two of deceptive velocity to the hitter.
RHP Sixto Sanchez (Class A Lakewood)
The highest-upside arm in the Phillies' system, Sanchez finally allowed a home run last Friday. Why is that notable? Because it's the only homer he's surrendered in 120 innings since turning pro as a 16-year-old.
In eight starts this season, Sanchez has a 2.90 ERA and 0.79 WHIP with 39 strikeouts and three walks in 40⅓ innings. He's struck out 101 and walked just 17 in the minor leagues, incredibly uncommon command numbers for an 18-year-old kid who has an upper-90s fastball and good secondary stuff.
Sanchez is too young to be a part of the Phils' next wave of talent which will include the Triple A guys and maybe a player or two currently at Double A. But if he keeps progressing like this, Sanchez has a chance to be cracking the majors right when the Phillies will need him most, in 2020 or so when they're theoretically ready to contend.
OF Adam Haseley (Gulf Coast League)
Talk about a fast start. Two games into his pro career, Haseley is 5 for 9 with a double, a triple, three RBIs, two runs, a walk and a steal.
The eighth overall pick in this year's draft, Haseley could be a fast riser through the Phillies' system because of his three years playing in competitive, challenging ACC games at Virginia.
The Phils, for now, want to separate him from last year's first-round pick, Mickey Moniak, so that both can play center field.
Phillies Mid-Atlantic scout Paul Murphy, who saw more of Haseley than just about anyone, used Nick Markakis as a loose comparison for Haseley in a recent conversation with CSN's Jim Salisbury.
C Jorge Alfaro (AAA)
Perhaps like Williams, Alfaro has realized he's going to need to find other ways to reach base when things aren't going well for him at the plate.
Alfaro, who also barely walks, has reached base via the free pass eight times in his last 11 games. Prior to that he had four walks in 50 games.
Alfaro has been in a pretty lengthy slump. Even after hitting a three-run homer Wednesday off former Phillie Kyle Kendrick, his numbers over his last 35 games are underwhelming.
Since May 12, Alfaro is 27 for 137 (.197) with just three home runs. Even though he's a faster runner than Cameron Rupp and Andrew Knapp, Alfaro has also grounded into 11 double plays.
If Alfaro had a dominant first half he'd be forcing the Phillies' hand more. But at this point it seems to make the most sense to keep him at Triple A all season and give Rupp and Knapp their final chances to make a bid for the everyday job. It's clear Alfaro has the most talent and upside, but he's yet to reach it consistently. Yes, this is his first season at Triple A, but he'll turn 25 next June so he's no youngster.
Aside from the three-run homer, Alfaro also threw out a runner last night, the 12th would-be base-stealer he's caught in 36 attempts.
RHP Jake Thompson (AAA)
It's been a year to forget for Thompson, who gave up five runs in five innings with the Phillies earlier this season and is 3-8 with a 6.07 ERA in 14 starts at Triple A.
Thompson's been all mixed up over the last year, changing his delivery and changing pieces of his repertoire. He's just no longer a guy who misses many bats.
Thompson had a great start on June 20 with eight shutout innings in Pawtucket but followed that by allowing five runs in six innings. It was the sixth time this season he's allowed at least five runs in a start.
At this point, Thompson is clearly behind Nick Pivetta, Ben Lively and Zach Eflin on the organizational depth chart. Eshelman might have pushed past him as well.
